At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.
– Aristotle, Greek philosopher
Malaysia’s rule of law and independence of the judiciary were once again severely tested. This time they have been seen to survive and pass the test with flying colours.
Professor Albert Venn Dicey, a 19th century British jurist and a leading constitutional scholar, suggested that the rule of law involves the following three propositions.
Firstly, no person must be punished except for a breach of the law; secondly, all persons are equal before the law irrespective of status or position; and thirdly, the rights or freedoms of citizens must be enforceable in the courts.
Over the years, Malaysia has had an unsavoury reputation on the lack of adherence to the rule of law. There are times when decisions to proceed with court cases and judicial decisions have been perceived to be subservient to the desires of political masters.
The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2016 published that the rule of law was fragile in Malaysia and that compliance with it has significantly declined.
The beginning of the degradation of the judicial system in Malaysia can be traced back to events 35 years ago.
In 1987 a series of events was triggered after the party elections that ended with the removal of the Lord President of the Supreme Court, Tun Salleh Abas, by Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Many people saw the sacking of Salleh Abas and two other Supreme Court judges as the end of judicial independence in Malaysia. Till then, the Malaysian judiciary had good standing at home and internationally.
There has also been a gradual weakening of the separation of powers between the three organs of government, the judiciary, executive and legislature. This culminated in Dr Mahathir concentrating power in the executive branch, namely himself, at the expense of the judiciary and legislature.
Thus we saw the erosion of checks and balances between the various institutions and agencies of the government.
In 2015, one such matter was the arbitrary sacking of Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail. He had been investigating Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. He had planned to bring charges against the prime minister on matters related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a national investment fund. Monies from this fund are alleged to have entered into his personal bank accounts.
According to Article 145(6) of the Malaysian Constitution, the attorney-general “shall not be removed from the office, except on the like grounds and in the like manner as a judge of the Federal Court”. This procedure was not followed.
Fast forward, and now we see the former prime minister serving a 12-year sentence in Kajang Prison after the Federal Court’s decision on Aug 23 to uphold his corruption conviction involving RM42 million of SRC International funds and an RM210 million fine. He is still facing four other criminal charges related to the 1MDB scandal.
A few days later, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Najib and self-styled former First Lady, has also now been found guilty of corruption. The High Court found Rosmah guilty of soliciting RM194 million in bribes to assist solar energy company Jepak Holdings in winning a RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project in 2016. This project covered hundreds of schools in Sarawak.
Paragraph 248 of the court decision reads as: “Corruption has reached almost every level of society. It must be curtailed before it becomes pandemic. If corruption is left unbridled, our society will come to accept it as a way of life or business.”
In both cases, much effort by the defence went into derailing and/or delaying the outcome. The judges in these cases must have faced tremendous pressure.
The courts led by the Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat seem to be clawing back their independence with the moral compass pointing towards true North. She also received rock star treatment on social media.
Hopefully, those judges involved in making these judicial decisions are not victimised and reprimanded in any way in the future as has been known to happen before.
The public’s reaction to the decisions has been euphoric with a sigh of relief that finally justice was not only done but seen to be done. Politically some in UMNO were disappointed and did not accept the outcome.
The winds of change seem to be blowing through the judiciary. However, let’s hope these winds of change are sustainable, unlike the PH government of 22 months.
The convictions of Najib, Rosmah and others will not be the end of the matter. Malaysian politics has evolved into a serial soap opera with many more episodes and seasons yet to come.
Just when you think this is the end, a plot twist appears, and a new season begins. You never know, we might see Najib from prison to hospital bed to being pardoned and then back to prime minister.
In the meantime, where Sarawak is concerned, do keep in mind that Rosmah’s actions had a huge negative impact on Sarawak because of the loss of quality education opportunities among our children, especially in rural schools.
It is fortunate that the GPS government, via its increased investment in education, prioritises the future of our children.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
